She will toughen up after a while. You have to be tough around here to survive.
•You are going to have to toughen up if you want to play on the team.
Dictionary of American idioms. 2013.
Toughen — Tough en, v. i. & t. [imp. & p. p. {Toughened}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Toughening}.] To grow or make tough, or tougher. [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
toughen — index inure (accustom) Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 … Law dictionary
toughen — (v.) 1580s, from TOUGH (Cf. tough) (adj.) + EN (Cf. en) (1). Related: Toughened; toughening … Etymology dictionary
toughen — [v] harden acclimate, acclimatize, anneal, brutalize, climatize, develop, inure, make difficult, season, strengthen, temper; concepts 202,250 Ant. flex, soften, tenderize … New thesaurus
toughen — ► VERB ▪ make or become tough … English terms dictionary
toughen — [tuf′ən] vt., vi. to make or become tough or tougher toughener n … English World dictionary
toughen — [[t]tʌ̱f(ə)n[/t]] toughens, toughening, toughened 1) V ERG If you toughen something or if it toughens, you make it stronger so that it will not break easily. [V n] Do not add salt to beans when cooking as this tends to toughen the skins. [V ed] … English dictionary
toughen — UK [ˈtʌf(ə)n] / US verb Word forms toughen : present tense I/you/we/they toughen he/she/it toughens present participle toughening past tense toughened past participle toughened 1) [intransitive/transitive] to become more strict, or to make… … English dictionary
toughen — verb Toughen is used with these nouns as the object: ↑penalty … Collocations dictionary
toughen — tough|en [ˈtʌfən] v also toughen up [I and T] to become tougher, or to make someone or something tougher ▪ toughened glass ▪ Three years in the army toughened him up … Dictionary of contemporary English
toughen — tough|en [ tʌfn ] or ,toughen up verb 1. ) intransitive or transitive to become more strict or make something more strict: Universities are toughening up their entrance requirements. 2. ) intransitive or transitive to become mentally or… … Usage of the words and phrases in modern English
